Burt Weissbourd (Rare Bird Lit and Blue City Press)
Hope Dies Last by Burt Weissbourd is a pulse-pounding thriller that leaves you turning the pages, thanks to the unpredictable plot and the never-ending action that moves the story forward. Sara and Alvaro are drawn into a deadly conspiracy when a shocking photo hints at a connection to a $350 million Venezuelan military heist. What starts as a surprise visit from a cousin with a secret quickly spirals into violence, leaving Sara hospitalized and their young son terrified. Dead bodies begin to mount, and the couple turns to Sara’s father, Cash—a...
Alexander C. Juden (5Points Press)
“I needed to find Patricia. I’d stash her in a safe place, and then I was going to kill that son of a bitch Armistan deader than the goddamn dodo bird.” This introduces the conflict in Quieting the Storm by Alexander C. Juden, a gripping historical thriller set in the post-World War I era. The story follows Major John Griffin, a disfigured and haunted investigator entangled in a web of espionage, political intrigue, and personal vendettas. Upon returning to New York from Europe, Griffin is determined to save Patricia Kingsbury from her estrange...
Alex J. Knudsen & Charlotte Zang ()
Blood on the Trailhead by Charlotte Zang and Alex Knudsen is a captivating mystery set in the lush, ancient woods of Northern California’s Humboldt Bay region. The story follows Hannah Albrecht, an archaeologist, who becomes obsessed with deciphering mysterious glyphs and petroglyphs along the park’s ridges, believing they lead to a lost ceremonial site of the Wiyot Tribe. Meanwhile, in the present day, a series of chilling events unfold as a young boy, Kevin Marlow, is mauled to death in Devil’s Cradle State Park, echoing the earlier spectral...
Kevin G. Chapman (First Legacy Publishing)
Treacherous Hack by Kevin G. Chapman is the seventh book in the Mike Stoneman Thriller series, yet it remains a perfect read as a standalone mystery. This gripping crime thriller is set in the dark, dangerous underworld of New York City’s organized crime, cyber hacking, and political corruption. The story follows Detective Mike Stoneman and his partner, Jason Dickson, as they investigate the brutal murder of Lou Palazzo, a shop owner entangled in a web of data theft, Chinese espionage, and gang warfare. Meanwhile, young cyber-savvy students Rya...
Leah Orr (Orrplace Press)
Leah Orr’s The Fruitcake is a darkly comic suburban thriller set in the affluent, sun-drenched Laguna Palms neighborhood on Florida’s Hutchinson Island. The novel begins with Holly Kelly’s reluctant participation in a community fruitcake exchange, only to stumble upon a gruesome murder committed by one of the enigmatic Hudson sisters. As Holly’s narrative unspools—from her family’s move to paradise, through the forming of eccentric friendships (especially with Gina, Greta, and Chloe) to the unraveling of suburban secrets—the story alternates wi...
Linda Watkins (Argon Press)
Linda Watkins’ A Cesspool of Spies is set in 1950 and in a world of political turmoil as the Cold War rages, Korea is invaded, and accusations of communist infiltration shake America. The story follows Simon Biggs, a working-class WWII Navy veteran, recruited into the nascent CIA in the late 1940s. After a grueling training period under the watchful (and sometimes sadistic) Major Brad Sullivan, Simon is shipped off to Istanbul, a hotbed of espionage, where he’s quickly forced into a real assassination – killing a Soviet asset with a garrote. As...
Matthew Fults (Tradecraft Werks Inc.)
Matthew Fults’s The Sunflower Widows is a heartwarming novel set against the backdrop of Ukraine’s recent war, charting the lives of ordinary villagers as their world is upended by conflict. The narrative centers on Yulia, a young nurse, and her husband Maksym, an aspiring writer, who move to a small village to build a peaceful life. When war erupts, Maksym volunteers to defend his homeland, leaving Yulia and the other women behind. Through the eyes of Yulia, her mentor Kathryna (the village caretaker), and Ana, the wife of an older s...
D.E. Ring (Grinder)
D.E. Ring’s Death and His Brother is another captivating sixth entry into the Urquhart & MacDonald Murder Mysteries, and it is a classic whodunit set in mid-20th-century Cape Breton, Canada, following a cast of musicians, hotel staff, and small-town residents thrown together by fate and a deadly accident. The story opens as a group of jazz musicians, along with other passengers, board a new Railiner sleeper train for the grand re-opening of The Gramercy Hotel in Barrachois. When the train barrels through its stop with no one at the controls...
Michel Godet (selfpublishing.com)
The Legacy of Moreau: The Gamble for Our Humanity by Michel Godet is a captivating thriller that examines the intersection between scientific innovation and ethical responsibility in the area of human enhancement. In a richly described world where bioengineering and neural technologies could change what it means to be human, the novel includes characters motivated by ambition, their family history, and tough moral choices. Dr. Elise Moreau’s groundbreaking creation—Project Nexus—promised to unlock the full potential of the human mind. Designed...
Ian Kirkpatrick (Steak House Books)
Bodymore Zero by Ian Kirkpatrick is a rollicking ride that thrusts you right into the gritty streets of Baltimore, ten years before the chaos of Bleed More, Bodymore. Ralph Reagan drums for his best friend's band, Bad Ass Idiot Train. They are known for their wild concerts and the rebellious frontman KC; their bond feels unbreakable—until a violent night leaves KC dead, or so Ralph thought. When KC unexpectedly reappears, bloodthirsty and unrecognizable, Ralph must confront a sinister secret lurking beneath the city's graffiti and shadows. As K...
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